NASA announced today that the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected during the OSIRIS-REx mission shows evidence of both carbon content and water. These findings may indicate that the building blocks of life on Earth lie in rocks.
The OSIRIS-REx sample collection contained approximately 60 grams of asteroid material and curation experts spent the past 10 days carefully disassembling the return hardware to obtain a glimpse at the bulk rocks within. After opening the canister lid for the first time, scientists discovered bonus asteroid material covering the outside of the collector head, canister lid, and base.
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The OSIRIS-REx sample is the biggest carbon-rich asteroid sample ever delivered to Earth and will help scientists investigate the origins of life on our own planet for generations to come. Almost everything we do at NASA seeks to answer questions about who we are and where we come from. NASA missions like OSIRIS-REx will improve our understanding of asteroids that could threaten Earth while giving us a glimpse into what lies beyond,” said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator.
